‘I do know it is type of a contrarian place’

• Members of Congress make $174,000 a yr — however they have not gotten a increase since 2009.

• That is regardless of 15 years of inflation since then.

• AOC says that should change “if we wish working class individuals” in Congress.

Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York has long been vocal in regards to the want for members of Congress to get a pay bump.

Because it seems, Rep. Patrick McHenry — the North Carolina Republican who briefly served as interim speaker of the House in October — agrees along with her, lately telling The Dispatch that congressional pay must be raised to draw “credible individuals to run for workplace.”

“I have been saying this for a while,” Ocasio-Cortez advised BI this week. “I feel he is proper. I do know it is type of a contrarian place.”

The New York congresswoman has argued {that a} increase is required each for anticorruption causes, and to permit a broader group of People to hunt public workplace.

A disproportionate share of lawmakers are millionaires — and some many times over.

“If we wish working class individuals who do not depend on unbiased wealth, to signify individuals in Congress, now we have to make it work,” mentioned Ocasio-Cortez, pointing to the necessity for members of Congress to keep up a residence in each Washington and their dwelling districts.

However she additionally made clear that she’s not simply searching for herself.

“We have to increase the minimal wage, we have to make childcare financially viable, and we have to do this for each American,” she mentioned. “We additionally must do it within the Home.”

Since 2009, rank-and-file members of the Home and Senate have been paid a $174,000 annual wage, and Congress has blocked cost-of-living changes yearly since then.

Whereas that is greater than 80% of American households make in a yr, specialists have argued that lawmakers remain underpaid, given each the significance and the distinctive calls for of their job.

If lawmakers’ salaries had saved tempo with inflation, they’d make over $250,000 now.

But polling suggests that the general public largely opposes a increase for members of Congress, and loads of lawmakers — together with progressives — argue towards it.

“Individuals who make nice contributions to America do not do it for the cash,” Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California told BI this week. “I feel we will entice expertise with out the funds.”

Learn the unique article on Business Insider